Dope (band)
Dope is an American heavy metal band from Villa Park, Illinois, formed in 1997 in Chicago.
To date, the band has released five full-length studio albums. Their most recent, No Regrets, was released on March 10, 2009.
History
The band was founded by song writer and lead singer Edsel Dope in 1997. As a child, Edsel and his brother, Simon Dope, were separated when their parents divorced. When the two were adults, they reunited and Simon joined Edsel's band, playing keyboards. The pair then recruited Tripp Eisen as guitarist, Preston Nash as drummer, and Acey Slade as bassist.
Unlike many of the popular bands from the 1990s, Dope derived their sound from influences taken from heavy metal bands and fused that with the sound of industrial rock acts who had made waves earlier in the decade, such as Ministry and Skinny Puppy.
In their earliest days, the band sold drugs to survive and purchase instruments. Furthermore, the name "Dope" refers to drugs and drug culture, as shown by their early T-shirt designs, which prominently displayed hypodermic needles.
